News

On 3rd May the extremely severe tropical cyclone Fani (pronounced as ‘Foni’) made landfall in the east Indian state Odishi. It reached sustained maximum wind speeds of 185-195 km/h with gusts to 205 km/h on land. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that it weakened moving north-noth-eastwards towards West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Calling for entries from all photographers worldwide, professional or amateur, RMetS is looking for the best images depicting weather in its widest sense. This could range from weather phenomena such as clouds, lightning, rain, fog or snow through to the impact of weather on humans, cities and the natural landscape. The competition calls for stunning images, dramatic in what they depict or because of the story they tell of the impact of weather.

Two tropical storms affected the Middle East in the past weeks. Cyclone Sagar developed in the Gulf of Aden, between Yemen and Somalia on May, 16. It caused heavy rains and flash flooding after hitting Djibouti on May, 19. A total of 110 mm of rain was recorded on May 19-20, which corresponds to the average rainfall for the entire year. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), two people are reported to have died and between 25,000 and 50,000 people have been affected by the flooding.

Parts of Eastern Europe were left looking quite Mars-like this week, as orange snow blanketed mountainous landscapes. Storms in the Sahara desert led to the unusual snow being deposited in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania

Unusual warming around the North Pole has sent a blast of cold Arctic air across Europe. A rare snow storm hit Rome on Monday and many other parts of Europe are also being blasted by bitter easterly winds from Siberia, including the UK.

A Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event has taken place, resulting in the split of polar vortex in two vortices which may impact our weather later this month (there is a lag time between an SSW and the impact it has on UK weather).

A SSW of the atmosphere refers to a rapid rise in temperatures in the stratosphere (which is found at an altitude of 10 km to 50 km) when the temperature can rise by up to 50°C over a couple of days – and this often leads to cold conditions across the UK.

Cycle Gita has hit islands of Tonga in the South Pacific. It is the worst storm to reach the islands in more than 60 years, bringing winds of more than 140 m.p.h.

Gita peaked overnight on 11th and 12th February, battering the main island of Tongatapu, flattening many buildings including a parliament building and bringing down power lines. Gita then picked up pace as it headed towards Fiji, where it hit the Lau Islands south of the mainland as a category 5 storm, flattening several homes and crops.

The Met Office have completed a £10 million pound state-of-the-art upgrade of the UK’s rainfall radar network. For the first time the size and shape of raindrops and snowflakes can be captured, as well as wind speed data. These new scientific advancements have not only improved radar coverage but will lead to improvements in the accuracy of rainfall estimates, particularly during high impact weather events, such as flooding.

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theWeather Club is full of interesting and educational content that captures the many faces of the weather – its beauty, its power, its occasional absurdity and its fragility in the face of human activity.